Comments on Secondhand Smoke: Your 24/7 Seminar on Bioethics and the Importance of Being Human: SHS Funnies

Also, we need to remember Jonathon Swift's warning...

2008-08-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

Also, we need to remember Jonathon Swift's warning about seeking either immortality or vastly increased longevity without considering quality of life. (For those of us who read all of Gulliver's Travels.) I think about that a lot. It's why I'm grateful that my 85-yr-old MIL's oncologist takes her care very seriously. If they want us to live longer they need to be prepared to take care of us.

Well, I think if T's used the term "increased long...

2008-08-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I think if T's used the term "increased longevity" you might have a point. But the word used constantly is immortality. I am a big believer that the words we use are important. Otherwise, we slouch into a postmodernism wherein what we say simply means whatever we want it to mean, which can shift over time. The result is idea babble.

If we define "immortality" in absolute terms, I mi...

2008-08-28T07:50:00.000-07:00

If we define "immortality" in absolute terms, I might agree -- although I don't bother thinking much about absolutes. However, if we back away from absolutes, I don't think either of us, given our current limitations, is capable of determining whether immortality possible. Given this, I'm interested in trusting in the possibility for practical reasons.

That's true. But sometimes it is just impossible. ...

2008-08-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

That's true. But sometimes it is just impossible. Immortality is the latter. Thanks for your continued presence, Lincoln.

Often we create the impossible by designating it.

2008-08-27T12:37:00.000-07:00

Often we create the impossible by designating it.